Rewind and Redo
by Alkanis
Summary: Harry Potter has lost all of his friends, his family, and his reasons to live. During the final battle, he manages to go back in time. Written Post HBP, pairings: HG, RHr, possibly more
1. Going back

**Diclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**A/N: I am editing this so the stories are chaptered better. Nothing has changed other than that.**

A ragged looking man with sunken green eyes swept through the ruins of Hogwarts. He ran quickly, but not on the ground. Harry James Potter raced along, several inches above the rubble. His black cloak swirled around him as he spun to face his adversity.

Tom Marvolo Riddle had chosen not to even move his legs. His cloak trailing behind him, he flew in an arc behind Harry. When he landed, he spotted a jet of green light headed his way. Years ago, that curse had been his most powerful weapon. Now, Voldemort muttered the highly specific counter-curse, and the green light dissipated. He waved his wand in several complex motions, muttering a curse which he sent at Harry. The curse was dodged, and another was sent back.

After a fifteen minute exchange of some of the most powerful ways to kill a man, Harry saw that dueling such as this had no end. Innovation was required here. Harry began to animate the rubble in addition to sending curses. Voldemort raised a shield to protect himself against physical objects, and Harry broke it. He conjured a dragon, which Voldemort banished, but the rocks began to pummel Voldemort. Tom blasted all of the rocks, and Harry surprised him. Instead of avoiding all the shrapnel, Harry cast a killing curse. Riddle rolled out of the way, springing to his feet.

As Riddle stood, Harry launched the final curse. A jet of golden light rocketed toward Voldemort. Tom conjured a magical shield, and Harry triggered the second part of the curse. The jet of light turned into a giant metal spear directly before it hit the shield. Riddle cast the killing curse at Harry, thinking his shield would save him. Too late, he remembered the ramifications of the second part of the Spear of Light. _It needs a physical shield. _The metal lance struck him full in the chest. His wand flew from his hand. Harry Potter apparated next to the dying dark lord.

Bleeding from the shrapnel, Harry grinned. "Tom, I won't finish you off. Don't worry. You see, I need you. I am a force of the Light, and there is no way for a force of one side to go back in time. You, however, are a force of Dark. Do you see where this is going?"

Lord Voldemort did indeed. He knew of the ancient magic. His eyes widened, and he struggled to end his life. It was of no avail. Harry muttered the spell, and Voldemort felt a rush like a Portkey.

Harry looked around. He and Lord Voldemort were in a secluded cave, somewhere in British mountains. Tom gurgled. Harry leaned closer. Tom gloated in his ear. "You forgot the second part. When the Light One dies, so does the Dark One." He smiled, "And vice versa." Harry swore. He _had _forgotten. Luckily, he knew the remedy to this particular problem.

Harry Potter had been locked in his room for quite some time. He was sore and starved. So when he felt a jerk behind his navel, he assumed he had finally died.

Immediately, Harry was staring face to face with another man. This man also had green eyes, and Harry glanced up. A lightning bolt shaped scar showed true on the man's forehead. "Who are you?" yelped Harry. The other man grinned. "Hello, Harry. My name is Harry Potter. I am here to make you an offer." The younger Harry tried to run, but found he could not. The older Harry frowned, and healed all of the younger boy's injuries from the Dursleys.

"Harry. Have you done your first year of school yet?" The younger Harry nodded. The older Harry frowned. "I thought so. I meant to go back farther, but this may be best. Harry, your life now is as good as it is going to get. You will make new friends, and learn new things, but he…" Harry said, indicating Voldemort. Harry the younger gasped. "… will kill them all. If you take my hand, we will join. Our friends will have a chance. But you may never be the same again." The older Harry extended his right hand.

"For our friends…" he whispered, expecting rejection. The younger Harry grasped his hand. "For our friends." Harry whispered back.

Tom Marvolo Riddle perished when the older Harry collapsed. But the younger Harry was different now. He had the mind, the skills, and the magic of the older Harry. He knew the ancient magic which had sent them back in time, he knew how the transfers worked, he knew he would love Ginny. Yet, most of all, he knew the horrors that lay in store for him.

Harry slid into Privet Drive, number four. Sliding was like apparating, except it could only be protected against by different wards. Wards which no where had. It was silent, and immediately moved a wizard or witch from one place to another. When Harry appeared in his room, he heard voices.

"Are you sure this is his window, Ron?" asked Fred.

"Yeah—" started George, but Harry cut them off.

"Hey guys! Be quiet out there. All my stuff is downstairs, so the twins will need to get that. Anyway, let's get out of here."

Ron and the twins climbed into his room. "Hey Harry," said Ron. "I didn't reply to your mail cause there was a house elf taking it all." Harry said. "Sorry." he added as an afterthought. Ron stared at Harry a bit speechlessly. Harry realized he had unconsciously been using Legilimency on his friend, and had replied to a comment not even spoken. When the twins left to go get Harry's stuff, Harry spoke to Ron. "Hey Ron, look." He started. "Something happened not even an hour ago. I need to talk to you, your parents, Dumbledore, Hermione, Remus and Siri… uh, that's all." Ron stared at him blankly. "Remus?" he questioned. "Uh, never mind, just the ones before that." Harry said, mentally cursing himself for the slip up before Ron knew. Even after he told most people, some people still could not know. The ministry, for instance.

The twins arrived back with Harry's stuff, and he immediately retrieved his wand. It was less worn then he remembered, and he wouldn't need it for any spells he would be casting until Voldemort returned, but it felt good to know that he was now able to cast his strongest spells.

As soon as the others weren't looking, he used a form of banishing charm on his wand. Now, with another wordless and wandless spell, he could call it to his hand at any moment. Harry got into the flying muggle car, and Fred and George started it up. On the way back home, they talked about many different things, few of which had any importance.

As soon as they got home, Molly laid into the three Weasleys. Harry wanted to ask her to stop, but knew he couldn't. He settled for asking Arthur to call a meeting. He asked for the entire Weasley family, as well as Hermione and Dumbledore.. When Arthur had questioned Harry, he had explained that it was very important, and had to do with Voldemort. That got Arthur moving. The meeting was soon scheduled for 11 am the next day. After that, Harry went upstairs, and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Changing things

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter II

The next day, at 10:30 am, Albus Dumbledore headed a meeting called by Harry Potter.

"Harry," said Dumbledore, peering over his half moon spectacles. "Perhaps you can tell us the purpose of this meeting?"

At this Harry, smiled grimly. "Do you all promise never to repeat a word of this to anybody, nor oblivate me?"

Albus appeared quite surprised at this request, but they all nodded. Harry summoned his wand from the magical storage space, an act which surprised them all. Harry proceeded to wordlessly cast several very strong wards and secrecy spells, several of which Dumbledore himself did not know. This startled him greatly, and he rose.

"Harry—"

Harry Potter cut in "Albus. There are some very grave matters we must discuss. I am not the Harry who left Hogwarts last year."

At this, Albus raised his wand. "Harry—"

Harry sighed. "Albus, please, do not make me. I can best you."

This caused a chorus of stunned gasps. Albus shot a powerful variant of the stunning spell at Harry. Very few adult wizards could block the spell, and Albus felt bad using it against a twelve year old. That was, of course, until the twelve year old disappeared, reappeared behind Albus, and summoned every wand in the room.

Harry sighed. "I—" Several shouts started up, and Harry silenced all of them, and petrified them for good measure. He began far more strongly. "I did not intend for it to happen this way. Let it suffice to say, that I am most pleased to see you all alive. My name is Harry James Potter. I am in a twelve year old body, but I am twenty-eight years old. The Dark Lord Voldemort returned to power in my fourth year at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore died during my sixth. The entire Weasley family, other then Ronald Weasley, was dead before my twentieth birthday. Ron died by the time I turned twenty-seven. Hermione that same day as Ron. However, Voldemort did not win. I defeated him, and using an ancient magic, sent us both back in time. I thought that I could go back, let him die, and then save all of you. However, the proper balance of light and dark cannot be changed. Thus, I was forced to destroy my body, after implanting my mind into this body. The younger Harry is a part of me, and my mind will soon join with his, making us an abnormal mature twelve year old. He will know all of my magic, and have all of my power. He will also have all of my memories. But for now, I needed to let all of you know. Voldemort lost, but so did I. And so I came back, to save you all. Thank you."

With that, and with tears running down his face, Harry broke the spells he had placed on all of them. Voices rang out all at once, but Albus Dumbledore once again took command of the floor. "How do we know this is true," he inquired. "Because I know things that I could not know otherwise." Harry said. He listed off facts about the first war, the order of the phoenix, and informed them of events to come. He told them about little things Albus had left in his will, and that no one else could know. However, when he felt a tendril of Legilimency creep out from Albus, he stopped. "Albus, no." he said. Albus stopped surprised. Harry added he knew Occulmency and Legilimency, as well as many forms of dueling. He told the stories of the valor of the Weasleys, especially Ron, and Hermione. Finally, he told them one thing they never expected to hear: Sirius was not the Secret Keeper of the Potters.

Hermione and Ron seemed to be in shock from earlier revelations, and would not have any idea what this one meant. Molly and Arthur were both shocked, and Albus looked very sad. It was at this time Harry remembered Ron's rat. "Scabbers…" he growled. Ron looked up. "Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew in animagus form." With that, he broke down the wards on the room, and was out for blood.

Harry left the meeting quickly, a trail of Weasleys, headed by Albus behind him. He indicated that they should wait at the bottom of the stairs, and he ran up them. As soon as Harry was upstairs, outside of Ron's room, he cast several wards on the door, preventing anything from leaving. He cast a charm to freeze in place any person in the room with a magical signature less than his, which would be anyone in the room. Then he opened the door, and walked into the room, with a frozen, sleeping rat Peter Pettigrew.

After picking up 'Scabbers' Harry cast several binding charms on the rat, including two he was fairly sure no one but him could break. He broke all of the wards on the door, and walked down the stairs. "Alright everyone." He said, silencing the arguments going on. He laid the rat down on the floor. Pointing his wand at the creature, he thought _Finally. Animagus Peter Pettigrew verus vultus._

The rat grew and twisted, until before their feet lay a small man, no longer sleeping, but looking around in fear. He could not move, nor speak, but the Headmaster's face showed he knew the man. Peter Pettigrew.

"Professor," said Harry, "If you would be so kind as to take him to the Ministry, and make up a story about his capture. I will need to speak to you later, if you would be so kind." Dumbledore nodded, and Harry waved to his friends, and Ginny. "Ron, Ginny, Hermione, want to play 2v2 Quidditch?" Ginny immediately turned bright red and muttered something. Hermione also looked to be opting out, but Harry insisted. Fred and George came out with the rest of them, and Harry made teams.

"Ginny, me and George vs. Fred, Ron and Hermione" he said. As they went to the broomshed, Harry ran and got his Nimbus. When he came back down, he saw Fred asking Ginny how she knew how to fly. She answered that she was just doing it from having watched her brothers so much. Harry grinned, and kicked off. At the sight of him flying, Ginny's movement lost some of its grace, and Harry flew over next to her. "Look," he said. "Don't be afraid of me, I know you can play. And if you do well enough, you might be backing up for the Gryffindor team this next year." He grinned at her, and she grinned back, if only a little bit, and said "Really?" When he replied yes, she smiled hesitantly at him, and he nearly fell off his broom. It had been at least eleven years, waiting for that smile.

Harry had wanted to keep her safe, and so, on the night of Bill and Fluer's wedding, he had rejected her once again. He remembered her running off. He had sunk into depression, and he, Ron and Hermione went on a walk. While on that walk, there was an attack on the wedding. The three had raced back, and fought well and hard. Ginny had been running to Harry, when Severus Snape stepped in front of her. Harry was behind him, but out of range. Ginny had bled to death from Snape's Sectumsempra. Harry had come up from behind just as he finished the spell. In his rage, Harry had used the Killing Curse that night. Now, the Killing Curse was one of his most used spells. Well, not in this time line. Yet.

Harry was pulled out of his reverie, when the Quaffle hit him in the side of the head. He caught it out of reflex, and looked around. Hermione was unsuccessfully trying to steer towards him, but Fred was barreling in fast. Harry juked down to the left, and looked for Ginny. He passed it to her, and they went in for a goal.

At around 12:30, the entire group was called in for lunch, and Fred and George went off to look for new ways to prank Percy, who had shut himself in his room. Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Ron ate several sandwiches each, and then Harry guided them all up to Ron's room. Once inside, he sat on the bed. Ron sat next to him, and the girls sat across. That one game of Quidditch had helped Ginny out immensely, although she and Harry weren't best mates, she didn't blush everytime she saw him.

"So, you're our mate from the future?" asked Ron tentatively. Harry rolled his eyes. "Kinda. I'm both." When the others looked at him questioningly, he went more in depth. "Look, its like, I'm twenty-eight, and I'm twelve. Or a mix. The only reason I spoke like I did earlier was so Dumbledore would listen to me."

"You beat him…" said Hermione. "Who?" asked Harry. "Dumbledore" she whispered. Harry looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, I had to. I could beat anyone, and I could have had anything in my last life. But I couldn't stand it. All of you gone…" he trailed off.

"All of us?" asked Ginny. Harry looked at her. "Yeah. Everyone. But that won't happen again. We need to be ready this time, ok?"

All of them nodded, and he continued. "When Dumbledore gets here, we will need to see if anything can be done. We will all want to be physically fit too, ok? And also, I know all of you can become at least as skilled and powerful as the best Aurors the world has ever seen, you did it in the last time line."

That impressed all of them, and Harry neglected to mention Ginny had only been on her way there before she died. "You all will need to work hard, and if you need anything, you have to let me buy it for you if you can't ok?" he said. At this, both Weasleys took offense, and tried to shout him down. He insisted, and had just barely won when Dumbledore returned from the Ministry.

"Harry!" called Molly Weasley. He and the others ran down the stairs to find Albus Dumbledore waiting. The man's eyes twinkled more then ever.

"Ah, our young Harry. I believe you have assisted in the capture of a criminal today. However, I took the liberty of explaining that I found the murderer when I detected a strange magical signature. I thought it would be unwise to tell the Ministry you were from the future. There is, however, someone here who would like to see you." With that, he removed the Disillusionment from Sirius Black. Harry was shocked. "Normally, Harry, it would have taken much longer, but a man of my standing can make things happen." Dumbledore said, smiling. Harry hadn't just been amazed at the speed however. Seeing his godfather alive was amazing, but being fooled by a simple disillusionment was not.

Sirius walked forward slowly. Ron and Ginny, both having been brought up thinking this man was a killer of the highest order, shrunk back a bit. Harry, however, stepped forward. "James' boy…" Sirius rasped. Harry nodded. "Padfoot." he said. Sirius blinked. "How did you know that name?" Harry blinked. 'Oh. One second." he turned to Dumbledore. "Could you get Remus Lupin and Alastor Moody as well?" Dumbledore nodded, and disapparated. Around thirty minutes later, four adults, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Sirius and Remus sat across from four children, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Remus and Mad-Eye had both taken some convince to not kill Sirius, and now Harry set up the wards. During this process, he also cast several wards on himself he had in his past life.

Several to protect against weaker spells, a few to protect against physical spells, and two to be able to see normally hidden things, such as people under Disilllusionments and invisibility cloaks and spells with less strength then his. Many of these wards would be almost useless for a less powerful wizard, as they were all based off raw magical energy. Fortunately, Harry had built his energy stores, and had started out with the capacity to be a very powerful wizard in the first place.

Now, Harry explained to two Marauders and an ex-Auror how he had traveled back in time. Albus helped by confirming he believed Harry. Then, Harry addressed matters of business. "First off, Severus Snape needs to be fired." Albus bristled at this statement. "Harry, you know I trust Snape—" "He killed you—and he killed her." he said, indicating Ginny. Ginny and Albus both were shocked. Harry muttered "I killed him, and if I ever see him again, I'll do worse." The plain admission of killing disturbed all of them, but Harry continued unfazed. "I need to train physically. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all need to train physically and magically. By our fourth year, all of them need to be NEWT level in defense against the Dark Arts. Sirius, Remus, and Alastor can all help with that. Everyone here who doesn't already know it needs to learn strong Occulmency. Snape needs to be removed. For this year, I think Alastor should teach potions, with Remus in defense. Gildroy is an idiot" Albus nodded. Harry then spoke up "Does anyone know what a Horcrux is?"

Alastor and Sirius became all business, Albus fixed Harry with a piercing gaze, and the others all shook their heads. "A Horcrux is an object that contains part of a wizard's soul. This makes it so the wizard cannot die unless the Horcrux is destroyed. Horcruxes may only be created by an act of evil, a murder. Voldemort has made six. They are mainly surrounded by enchantments of all sorts, including several that make it impossible to go after them unless he has a body. Therefore, we can not start now."

Harry added "They are: Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket, Voldemort's diary, Slytherin's ring, a tailfeather from Fawkes, like the one inside his wand, and a trophy from when he was at school. The trophy can be destroyed as soon as he gets a body, and is the least guarded. He could not put too many wards around it inside the school."

"Regardless, we will need to prepare for destroying those, and since it can only be done when he has a body, we will need to be ready to fight him as well. Anyway, what can be done in these respects?"

Sirius spoke in a grim, haunted voice. "Before… before… it, I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and I grew up in the house of Black. I know a lot about the Dark Arts and how to fight them, but from what I heard you probably know more. If we could make it look like you are all being taught by us, could you lead a class Harry?"

"Sure, if that can be arranged. To keep up pretenses, I will take normal second year classes. During the beginning of this year, Lucius Malfoy will slip a diary into your cauldron, Ginny. Give it to me, and I can destroy that Horcrux."

Hermione spoke up "Harry, I thought they couldn't be destroyed unless Voldemort had a body."

"No, several of the wards can only be broken if Voldemort has a body. You see, the only reason they are semi-accessible at all is so he can retrieve them. While the actual Horcruxs pose no harm, the wards around them are very hard to break. Voldemort, Dumbledore and I are the most skilled wizards alive. I would say in direct combat, I am the most powerful, while Voldemort can probably make stronger wards and has the lowest morals. Albus probably knows the most stuff out of all of us, but probably not nearly as much as Voldemort and I about combat, due to our liberal use of Dark Magic." Harry paused when he mentioned Dark Magic. "Please keep in mind, that for me, these ends justify these means."

"At any rate, I can tutor all of you in combat magic, while I think Dumbledore would be best suited to teach Occulmency and Legilimency, which we all need to know. Sirius, if you could teach us all to become Animagus, that would be great. Finally, we all need to pretend nothing of this sort has happened. As far as anyone else is concerned, I am just regular twelve year old Harry."

All of them affirmed this statement, and Harry turned to Albus. "Thank you for cooperating, and I will come to you if I need anything."

Albus nodded, and smiled in his regular way. "Not to worry Harry. I see you are still the same in spirit, although a bit more battered. Since Snape is very dangerous, or so you say, I will repost him immediately. He will work for me elsewhere, and hopefully not kill me this time. Gilderoy however, may not take no for an answer. May he stay for one year?"

Harry nodded grimly. "Yeah, it might look weird if you fired him on the advice of a twelve year old, and you don't have other grounds. However, watch out for him trying to cast a memory charm on anyone, he does that a lot."

Albus nodded, and disapparated from the house.


	3. Diagon Alley

**Diclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter III

The rest of the summer flew by. Harry generally behaved as a normal twelve year old, refrained from using magic and played a good deal of Quidditch. He had to degnome the garden, help paint the shed, and clean up after meals just like everyone else. While it was in the back of everyone's mind that Harry wasn't quite a twelve year old boy, he was foremost and forefront just that.

Harry, in addition to his friendships with Hermione and Ron, had forged a strong friendship with Ginny as well. It was purely friendly, and Harry planned to keep it that way for quite a while. Harry had been teaching the children Occulmency, and all of them were quickly mastering it. Sirius had learned it to keep information from his family, Remus had learned it to protect himself when he pretended to be a werewolf loyal to Voldemort, and Moody knew it from being one of the best Aurors of his time. As such, Harry did not need to teach them, and Moody and Albus only visited every so often.

About two weeks after Sirius had been released, Harry had been transferred into his custody. Sirius had decided to let Harry stay at the Burrow, while he and Remus caught up and relived their marauder days. However, being the legal guardian of Harry had allowed Sirius a reason to visit the Burrow at least once a week. As well, the joking, laughing, pranking Sirius had returned after gaining custody of Harry, and Fred and George Weasley were delighted.

Finally, shortly before first term, it was time for the shopping trip. Harry had almost wanted to skip the whole ordeal, he knew Gilderoy would never let him off easy. However, they needed that diary so they could destroy it. Harry woke up on the morning of the trip to a pillow to the face.

"Get up sleepy!" yelled Hermione. Apparently, she had Ginny had taken it upon their selves to wake him and Ron up by beating them over the head with pillows. Harry leapt out of his bed, and summoned his wand. He attempted to enchant his pillow to attack Hermione. It did just that, rising up and clouting her with extreme force. Hermione went sprawling forward, and began to cry. Harry disenchanted the pillow, and came to her side. "What happened Hermione?" he asked. Ginny and Ron came over, and Ginny snapped at Harry. "What did you do?" Through her sniffles Hermione spoke "Harry, when was the last time you cast spells, without the intent to hurt someone. Not a ward or anything though." Harry thought on it, realizing what she was asking. "At least two years, but probably more like ten." he stated. Ron was glaring at Harry with a venom not normally seen from him. "Maybe you should work on that then." he snapped. Harry wondered at this development. True, they had gotten married in the last time line, but they weren't even together until he was seventeen. He supposed it was just how close they had all gotten. He knew Ron was closer to Hermione in this timeline, the four's bond was much stronger, and Ginny was now in the picture, meaning Hermione had a girlfriend.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I never had the need for much control. I should definitely get a handle on that before school. If I do _Aguamenti _and cause a flood that might cause some questions to come up." The others grinned slightly at this. Ginny asked "Why did you use magic in the first place?" Harry smiled "I forgot I wasn't supposed to, that's all."

"Kids! Breakfast!"

Mrs. Weasley's voice rang up the stair well. The four of them broke from their little circle, and Ginny yelled "Last one down the stairs is a rotten egg!" Three children broke out in a run. Harry smiled, and Slid downstairs. He reappeared directly in the dining hall, and was almost run over by Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, Harry, sorry, didn't see you there."

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny ran into breakfast with a chant of Harry being a rotten egg, only to find him already seated at the table, helping himself to toast. All of them looked a bit cross, and mutters of "Cheater!" could be heard from Ginny. When Mrs. Weasley left, she hissed "You just had to show off, didn't you!" Harry was downcast. He had abused his magical powers to the disappointment of his friends twice today already, and he didn't even know why. The twelve year old part of his mind was at the forefront, but his twenty eight year-olds habits were coming back.

Mrs. Weasley bustled back in to find all four eating their meals in silence. When she called them over to the fireplace, Arthur left first, but Harry immediately stepped up. "Diagon Alley" was all he said, and only after in the fireplace. Ginny went next. When she tumbled out of the fireplace, Harry moved to help her up, but then stopped himself. Arthur took note, and after the rest came through, he hung back to talk to his wife.

"Molly, have you noticed anything odd about Harry today?" asked Arthur. Mrs. Weasley nodded, and was immediately on high alert for anything that might be going on between her children and their friends. Arthur decided on a more direct route. After getting most of Ginny's supplies that they were buying, he went over to talk to Harry, who was walking off to the side of the bustling alleyway. He went up and tapped Harry on the shoulder. In one fluid motion, Harry whirled around, petrified Mr. Weasley wandlessly, and had his wand pointed in between Mr. Weasley's eyes. Several passerby took notice, and a few drew their own wands. Harry stammered apologies, and lifted the petrifaction from his friends' father. He pretended to stow his wand, and silently banished it. Molly came over to see what was going on, while Fred, George, Percy, Hermione, Ginny and Ron all stared speechless. They had been walking behind Harry, and had seen the whole thing.

"Are you all right?" asked Molly

"Yeah, I'm just a bit stressed." answered Harry.

"Just a bit…" muttered Mr. Weasley, who was obviously still in shock. Pedestrians saw an actual fight was not going to broke out, and began to move along again. This seemed to break Harry's friends out of their trance. They began to come over, but when they got close, Harry ducked away, with an almost incomprehensible "Sorry." Harry walked quickly down the street to Flourish and Blotts. _They probably all hate me now _he thought _Messed up three times in one day, and not even been here two months. _He continued with his self bashing thoughts until Ginny rounded in front of him.

Harry was pulled abruptly out of his train of thought by the sight of her red hair swirling around her, and her voice while not raised, contained power. All in all, he could see he had done some good in this world. A month ago, she had been afraid to even talk to him.

"Harry, I don't care how old you are, or how much magic you know. Your head is up your bum and if you don't pull it out right about now, you are going to be in deep trouble. Just because Ron, Hermione and I are mad at you for an hour or two doesn't mean you are a horrible person, and the way your acting, either you hate us or you think we hate you. So please, do yourself a favor, and don't forget that just because you may be all-powerful, doesn't mean you don't need to deal with rows the same way everyone else does."

With that, she stomped into the bookstore, only to be waylayed by the crowd of people attempting to go inside. _Here goes nothing _thought Harry, following Ginny inside. As he forced his way inside, he heard a group of girls swooning over the man inside.

"Can you believe he is actually here!?" said one

Another sighed. "I hope this line does die down though."

Harry continued going through. After the events earlier today, he was really frustrated, but didn't dare risk being found out, or making Ginny even madder, by Sliding into the bookstore. Instead, he forced his way into the story. By the time he got through the mass of bodies, he was ready to hex something. He had developed a fear of crowds during the war in his last time line, and the stress was getting to him.

As soon as he broke free of the main crowd in the doorway, he moved off in between the bookshelves. He began to get his list of schoolbooks, but he didn't dare go over to the Lockhart section, it was packed. Browsing the bookshelves, he got several household spell books as well. During the war, he hadn't had time to learn the arts of magical cooking, or much cleaning. He could conjure edible food, but it was fairly bad in taste, and hopefully, this time, he would have a use for frivolous spells.

After about half an hour of picking out books, the rest of his group was near the front of the line. He rejoined the Weasley family, and hope Mrs. Weasley was too distracted by Lockhart to notice him. She and Hermione were, but Mr. Weasley and Ron both had nothing else to do. As well, Ginny had her school books in her cauldron, and took notice of Harry's return.

"Harry, I would like to let you know that I am in no way mad at you. I know you have had a difficult life and a difficult day. Keeping reflexes like that is a good thing, but putting some sort of control on that for a while would also be good." Mr. Weasley spoke softly, and then turned away. Instead of anger in his eyes, Harry saw sadness, and a little bit of what could be shame. Harry had to know. _Legilimens _he thought. Mr. Weasley had learned Occulmency from Dumbledore, as had a good deal of the order members trusted with important information. It was so few people but Voldemort could break into his mind. Luckily Harry was more subtle then Voldemort, though not as powerful in this art.

_We failed him _thought Mr. Weasley. _Just a boy, and he had to go through all of that, and we couldn't save him. Look at how nervous he is. And he thinks we are going to abandon him too, I'll bet…_

Harry left Mr. Weasely's mind, and resisted the temptation to break into others. He couldn't solve his arguments by reading minds. Ginny was right. Just because he was powerful, didn't mean he could use it to deal with other people. _That is what Tom does anyway _he thought. During the end years of the war, he had been just as ruthless as Tom. What had separated them was Harry only targeted Tom and his followers, while Voldemort was merciless to everyone. Harry had used evil for good, while Voldemort used evil for evil. He supposed that Dumbledore was the pinnacle of good and trust, with Tom at the opposite end of the spectrum, and Harry somewhere in between.

Harry resolved to go about this the right way, although he hadn't done as such for at least five years. For those last five, it had always been just him and Ron and Hermione, and they had all understood they could not fight, or they would die by the hands of their enemies.

Harry looked at Ginny. "Um… Ginny?" he started. "What?" she snapped. Her tone of voice made Harry wish he could go back into his shell. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just am really stressed about—"

"Could it be! Could it be! Why yes I think it is! Ladies and Gents, today we have not one celebrity, the Magical Me, but we also have the Boy-Who-Lived! That's right folks! Harry Potter!"

"—this…" finished Harry under his breath. When he felt a hand on his wrist, he instinctively started to break the hold, but instead grabbed Ginny, carrying her along with him. The two of them were dragged up to the front by none other then Gilderoy Lockhart himself. Ginny was significantly more pleased then Harry. At least, she was pleased until Lockhart spoke up again.

"Oh-ho! Our young Harry seems to already have developed a taste for the ladies, I daresay!" he dropped his voice to a whisper "Run along now little girl, you can see your man later."

Harry almost hit Lockhart, and himself for dragging Ginny into this. Ginny looked close to tears, but also looked ready to hit Lockhart. Instead Harry spoke up. "Ladies and Gentleman!—" Lockhart cut him off quickly. "Harry came here today, simply to purchase some books of mine, definitely to expand his mind, but also for school. You see, ladies and gentleman, Hogwarts will be blessed with the real Magical Me this coming term! That's right, I will in fact be teaching your young children how to keep themselves safe and sound! And Harry Potter will now, in addition to Magical Me, will be needing all my other books, and I present them to him, signed and free of charge." With that, he plopped the stack of signed books into Harry's arms. Harry handed them to Ginny, and then held his arms out expectantly for more. The crowd laughed, and Gilderoy spoke up. "I suppose, I shall, for generosity is of my nature." With that, he handed Harry another stack of his books, again signed, and shooed them off.

Harry gave his second stack of signed books to Hermione, who nearly fainted with delight. Through her squealing, however, he heard "So, Mr. Potter, have we a girlfriend already. I suppose, being a Weasley, its more like a slave for your… desires?"

Harry turned around to see Draco Malfoy and his father standing several feet from the line. He broke into Lucius' mind, just as Lucius opened his mouth. "So, Arthur, trying to get some money and famed by selling your daughter to the boy who lived?" At the same time, Harry detected Lucius magically placing the diary in Ginny's cauldron. Ginny began to cry and scream at the Malfoys at the same time, while Arthur moved towards Lucius. "Tsk, Tsk." said Draco "Such attitude from a little—"

Harry lost it. Harry was not one to lose himself to anger, it was a bad trait in a battle. But Harry hadn't even had the chance to fight for Ginny in eleven years. He did, however, have enough control not to make it obvious. Draco appeared to trip, and fell on his face, hard. Harry was mad enough that he transfigured the book Draco had fallen on to be the Monster book of Monsters.

While Arthur and Lucius whaled on each other, the rest of the Weasleys laughed as Draco Malfoy was mauled by a book. Finally, Harry pretended to help Malfoy, and charmed several of the wounds to leave nasty scars before the boy pushed him and the book away. The book scurried towards Lockhart, and bit his leg. Amid the panic that ensued, Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children slipped out of the shop, a very unhappy Arthur left behind in Hagrid's clutches, listening to Molly's screams.

A short while later, everyone was still having a good laugh at the idea of Draco's face being eaten by a book. Sirius, Remus, Fred and George were thinking of all sorts of ways to make pranks to replicate the day for ever. So far, at least three books had some sort of jinx on them, although most were less harmful than the Monster book of Monsters. Mrs. Weasley had been shot in the face with bubbles by her cook book, and Hermione had been hit by a jelly legs jinx from a spell book. Ron had hit Fred when he opened his _Magical Me_ book, and now Fred had big shiny white teeth. Harry was convinced there were more, but decided not to spoil the fun, and had resolved not to break the charms he knew he would find on his books.

Harry was really looking forward to the start of term. He hadn't been to a fully constructed Hogwarts since it was destroyed, which had been soon after the Bill and Fleur's disastrous wedding. Harry walked outside, hoping to escape the antics going on inside. It was getting to be a bit too much, with Sirius and Remus having a mock duel, while Fred and George threw things at them.

As he walked outside, he felt people following him. Not looking behind him, he sent weak Legilimency tendrils at each. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, as was expected. Since he had done so much Occulmency work with them, he could tell it was them without actually breaking into their minds. Hermione had a smooth wall for Occulmency, while Ron had a layered defense and Ginny had a sort of spiked wall, ready to attack back. At least, that was the impression Harry got off of each.

He kept walking out to the back, and figured he would have to set up some wards on the Burrow. Unfortunately, this would probably not be possible until the war actually started. Frying visitors from the Ministry or having owls lose their way from a Fidelus would not do well for Arthur's position.

He sat down out in the back garden, and waited for his friends to show up. Sure enough, he was only brooding for a few minutes before Hermione called out "Hey Harry!" They had pretty much made up from earlier, but Harry had wanted some alone time. "Hey Hermione!" he called out anyway. "Can we come over?" she said. "Sure!" he said with false enthusiasm.

Hermione came up, with Ron and Ginny trailing behind her. They all sat down, and began to talk about the pointless things in life. Ginny asked a lot about Hogwarts, and they told her about the Sorting Hat, although Ron wanted to tell her she had to fight a dragon. Hermione gave her a break down of the first year curriculum and promised to share her notes. Mrs. Weasley called them in soon after, but Ginny was reassured about going to Hogwarts, and Harry was quite looking forward to the way things would turn out, this time.


	4. Back to Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter IV

After just a few weeks, September 1st was just a day away. Harry had secretly been practicing controlling his magic, and was now adapt at gauging his power level. He, Hermione, Ron and Ginny had spent a lot of time together, and they had taken to doing some exercise under Harry. It was mainly just running, but it still wasn't easy. Packing the night before, Ginny had discovered the diary while packing, which Harry had forgotten all about. He had asked all of the others to leave, but they had insisted to stay when he destroyed it.

So it came to be that Harry was in the presence of Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Arthur Weasley, and his friends, holding an innocent looking diary. "Everyone, a horcrux contains a fragment of a soul. There are few curses that can remove a soul from an object. I will need to use one of these spells. Please do not panic."

Albus nodded, as he knew what was about to happen. The other looked confused. Harry spoke up "Please move away from the diary." he said, setting it on the floor.

They all stood back, and Harry took careful aim at the diary. "_Avada Kedavra." _he whispered. The flash of green light struck the diary and was absorbed. Albus nodded, while Sirius and Remus looked sickened at the sight of the curse. Arthur looked sad, and Harry assumed he was guilt tripping himself again. Ron spoke up "That's it?" Harry smiled at his ignorance, and went over to the diary. Tapping it with his wand, he thought _ostendo mihi vestri animus. _The diary did not respond, and Harry knew it was no longer a Horcrux.

"Yeah, Ron, that's it…" he said. Remus spoke up "Harry… how many times have you used that curse?" Harry flinched at the question, but answered truthfully. "More times than I can count, it is a non-gruesome way of killing. As well, I know how to counter it."

"There is a counter?" rasped Sirius. "Yeah," Harry said "But you have to exert more magical energy then the other person, which means Albus is the only other one countering Voldemorts. But you can all learn it, I guess."

"What is the big deal about the curse?" asked Ron. Hermione spoke up. "It is how Voldemort kills people, including Harry's parents." Again, Harry flinched. Again, he spoke "It is an Unforgivable curse, generally thought to be unblockable, which for a weak wizard, it is. It removes a soul from an object, including separating a person's body from their soul… killing them instantly."

"Oh." said Ron. "Look people, this is why I wanted it to be just me and Dumbledore, ok? Just because I can use that curse doesn't make me a bad person!" he said, his voice raising as he spoke aloud his own fears. "We know, Harry" said Ginny. "We know you used it before, and we know you are still the same Harry, ok?" A thought suddenly struck Harry. "Professor, can the Ministry detect an Unforgivable?" Albus looked troubled, but Mr. Weasley spoke up "No, but they will be able to detect that a good deal of powerful magic just took place. However, the presence of the Headmaster can explain that away. I suggest you cast some first year spells in case they check your wand."

Harry nodded, and cast several different fist year spells in quick succession. After that, everyone went back into the house, and continued to get ready for school.

The next day, September 1st, marked the beginning of Ginny's first year at Hogwarts. It had been arranged for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to join Remus, Alastor, Sirius, and Dumbledore in training sessions every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Other than that, they were all required to keep up with normal work for their year, and Harry would privately continue Occulmency training with the other children.

Harry didn't know exactly how this year would work out. He had destroyed the diary, and thus Ginny would probably not be possessed. This lack of foreknowledge disturbed him a bit, but not too much. He had his friends back.

Harry and Ron woke up later than the others, and thus did not get any breakfast. As they piled into the car, Harry's stomach growled. Mrs. Weasley turned around slightly, and said "That's what you get dear!" Harry was cross, and almost conjured food, but decided he had to get used to being normal again.

Harry was daydreaming, and thinking about the first time he had done this year. Remembering Dobby, he swore. Mrs. Weasley turned around again, and started into him. Harry interrupted. "Mrs. Weasley, Ron and I need to go through the barrier first, ok?" "with that kind of language--- what?" she said, breaking off her rant. He repeated his statement, and she agreed, although she did look puzzled.

When they got to King's Cross, they unloaded the trunks, and Harry and Ron wheeled their trolleys in front of the barrier. "Alright, you two first." said Mrs. Weasley. Harry and Ron ran at the barrier. Both of the hit wall, and went sprawling. The barrier was just like last time. The Muggles looked around, and Mrs. Weasley looked quite concerned. After explaining they had slipped, Harry huddled with the Weasley family. "Mr. Weasley, I need you to come up with a reason that you did magic." With that, he disillusioned himself, and thought _Muffliato. _He then leaned up against the barrier, and felt the magic in it. Dobby's magic had a distinctive feel, and Harry sensed it right away. He looked at his watch. They had ten minutes until the train left. More then enough time.

He pointed his wand at the barrier. _Permissum nos per_. The barrier attempted to repulse the magic. _extrico_. Harry broke the wards under the pressure of the two commands, and lifted _Muffliato. _He motioned for Ron and him to try again. Running at the barrier, he felt the sensation of passing through, and trundled out on to Platform 93/4, with time to spare.

The others followed through, and Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny found a compartment near the back. They sat down, and Ginny began asking all sorts of questions involving the school, and the spells she would have to learn.

The lady with the cart came by, and Harry spent the gold he had left on sweets and other assorted snacks. He resolved to send Sirius for some more gold. After eating several of the snacks, Harry decided to write the letter. He asked Hermione for quill, ink and parchment, which she of course had, and had just sat down to write his god father, when the compartment door opened.

Harry knew who it was as soon as he heard the drawling voice. "Potter, still with the Weasel's sister, are we?" Harry turned, and saw that Draco had four scars on his left check. They were puffed up, and Harry was quite pleased. "A little scarred and worse for the wear after last time we said that, are we?"

Draco bristled. "It was you! I know so, I told my father. But he said you couldn't possible have magic so strong no healers could break it!"

Harry realized he had made a mistake, but took it in stride. "Nope, not me. I just think its funny your looks and dignity were taken from you… by a book." Ron broke out laughing, and Draco snapped out. "Shut up Weasel. It's not like you could have even paid to get examined." Ron turned bright red, and Harry felt a twinge of anger mixed with guilt.

"Not like your money did you much good though, huh?" said Harry. With that, he got up to close the compartment doors. Goyle put his hand on the door, and forced it open. _Vires est mei _thought Harry, grinning. The magic gave him strength, and he pushed Goyle and Malfoy into Crabbe, throwing them all against the other side of the train. He then closed the door, and locked it with _Colloportus. _Crabbe began rattling on the door, obviously angry, but Malfoy spoke to him, and all three left. Harry lifted the simple magic from the door, and the strength spell from himself, fairly sure that Malfoy had gone to find a teacher.

As Harry turned around, Ron burst out "I could have killed Malfoy!" Harry tried to maintain a straight face, but Hermione had noticed the color drain from his face. He saw her look down at her feet, and she had obviously figured it out. "Yeah." said Harry unenthusiastically. "Hey, do you reckon we are close enough to change into our robes?"

Hermione looked outside. "Yep," she said "Ginny, come with me." The girls went and changed first, and then Ron and Harry changed. They sat in silence for a bit, and finally the train pulled into the station. Harry heard the whistle, and the doors opened. The familiar call of "Firs' years, Firs' years." was music to his ears. He walked out onto the platform, Ginny, Ron and Hermione trailing behind him.

"Hey Hagrid" he said. The giant man waved, and Harry told Ginny to go with him. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the carriages, and got in. Harry decided not to take note of the thestrals, it would only confuse Ron and Hermione.

Shortly, Harry found himself sitting down in the Great Hall. The fully built, functional Great Hall, with such splendor and beauty it made him want to weep for joy. He sat down, and Professor McGonagall walked in with all of the first years. Ginny looked a good deal less nervous than most of the other first years, and Harry smiled. The sorting commenced, and Ginny was, as predicted, sorted into Gryffindor. She sat down in between Harry and Hermione, beaming.

Professor Dumbledore got up, and had them sign the school song. After that, he went over the list of banned items, and introduced the new teachers, Professors Moody and Lockhart. Harry knew that Potions would be interesting this year. Alastor was qualified because he had needed to know a lot about potions to become an Auror, but he was still Mad-Eye Moody.

They ate, and then they were dismissed. Percy led all of the Gryffindor students to the portrait of the fat lady, and told them the password. _Mugwump. Interesting _thought Harry. All of the students filed in, and Harry remembered his letter to Sirius. Hermione had taken the quill and parchment back at the end of the train ride, so he went up to his room, and got some supplies from his trunk.

_Dear Sirius,_

_Over the summer I saw quite a bit of you, but not a whole lot. I know you are going to be training with us, but do you suppose my friends and I could go to your place for Christmas break? Also, if you could get some gold from my account, that would be great. Anyway, I'll see you at training._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry_

With that, he sealed the letter in an envelope, and started off to the Owlrey. Down in the common room there were groups of students going about their business, and several lost looking first year. Ginny was with Ron, Harry assumed Hermione had insisted on getting ready for school, and they spotted Harry.

"Hey Harry!" called out Ginny. Immediately, a young boy with a camera popped up. The thought _'Colin Creevy' _had barely popped into his head before he was blinded by the flash of a camera. "Oi, what was that for!" he said loudly. Colin started to babble, and Harry gave it up. "Come on." he said, waving to Ginny and Ron.

They went up to the Owlrey, and Harry sent his letter to Sirius. When they got back to the common room, Hermione was jumping up and down. They had received their schedules.

Their first classes the next day: Defense, followed by double potions. Hermione began raving about all the things Lockhart had done, and what a great teacher he would make. "He is an udder dolt, Hermione." said Harry. Hermione looked scandalized, and Ginny glared. "Hey, I know for a fact." Harry defended himself. "You'll see."

Sure enough, they arrived in Defense the next day, to a brightly smiling a beaming Lockhart. "Hello, Harry" he said, ignoring Harry's friends. "I hear we made a great front page on the prophet! Whadda you say about doing a photo shoot some time."

Ron scowled, and Harry said "No thanks." Lockhart ignored him. "Of course you'd say yes, I knew it! I scheduled it for next Wednesday! We'll play you off as my protégé!" "I won't show up…" muttered Harry. Lockhart continued to babble for the first ten minutes of class about his and Harry's photo shoot, and then he absentmindedly handed out the quiz on himself he had prepared. Harry touched that paper, and silently did a spell to fill in answers. There was no way he was doing the quiz again.

Next came the true highlight of the day. Gilderoy Lockhart took out the pixies, and showed them to the entire class. After releasing them, havoc ensued. Neville was hung from the chandelier and Harry cast a silent shield charm on himself, and Ron. He wanted Hermione to learn that Gilderoy, could, in fact, not take care of the pixies. However, Hermione was defending herself quite well. The cry of _"Peskipksi Pesternomi!" _came out, and Harry saw Lockhart's wand go out the window.

The bell rang, and everyone dashed for the door. Lockhart once again left Harry, Ron and Hermione to clean up. "Can you believe him?" asked Ron. Hermione stated that he just was giving them hands-on experience. "Hermione, the only thing he is good at are memory charms. He takes other peoples stories and memory charms them, ok? I know this from my last time line." Hermione shot him a glare of utter loathing, and froze to pixies with a freezing charm. Harry sighed. "Let's not be in here all day." he waved his wand, and all the pixies were frozen, and back in their cage. Hermione stormed out of the room.

However, Hermione was waiting for them in the hall. "I guess Lockhart really didn't know too much." she sighed. "Yeah, he is a complete dolt." said Harry. Hermione glared at him, and Harry wondered what he had done wrong. "Oh, so you have to show me you were right now?" she practically yelled. Ron, who had been walking in silence, said "No, he is too busy with his photo shoots." Harry remembered Ron's fourth year jealousy. It seemed to have come early.

"Yeah, guys, I sure _asked _for my parents to die, for me to be targeted by the darkest wizard of our time, and for all my friends to die so I could come back and do it again, just to lose you guys _just _so I could be correct _and _famous." Harry was upset. They had barely been back a day and were already falling apart. He stormed into the Potions lab, and plunked his stuff down on a desk. Alastor Moody stood at the front of the room, his magical eye focused through the door. "Had a bit of a fight now, eh?" he said. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but Ron and Hermione came in, followed by Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"Alright class. Today, we are going to be discussing potions. We will not be making any today, but you all should know some of the reasons that I drink from a hip flask. Can anyone tell me of a poisonous potions?"

Hermione's hand shot up into the air. "Mrs. Granger."

"Devil's Drink, sir." Harry had told her about the potion over the summer, and he now regretted it dearly.

"Very good, Mrs. Granger. Can somebody else please tell me what it does?"

Hermione waved her hand in the air, but everyone else sat silently. "Come on now, someone else has to know." growled Moody.

After another minute or so, Mad-Eye spoke up. "Who ever tells me the answer, and the antidote will have their house excused from this class's homework tonight."

Harry reluctantly raised his hand. "Mr. Potter." said Moody. "Devil's Drink is an emerald green potion." Harry felt the memories come soaring back. He was in the cave again. His first encounter with the Inferi. Watching Dumbledore drink the potion. Watching Dumbledore die. "Mr. Potter, finish please."

Harry continued. "It causes the drinker's worst fear to come to life, quite quickly. They hallucinate, and believe they are living in this worst fear reality. This limits its effectiveness as a poison, as people will often stop drinking it, lost in their fears. The end result is death, but only after a good deal of the potion has been consumed. It is useful as a torture device. The antidote is simply time."

"Can you think of any more effective posions?" asked Moody.

Harry replied "It depends on what you are going to use it for. Devil's Drink is very good for torture, especially if you can force the victim to drink it. However, for an immediate death, a blood replenishing potion with—" Harry broke off. He had just remembered that _he _had invented that potion, and used it to kill Wormtail, who had been testing Voldemort's food.

"A blood replenishing potion? How could that kill anyone?" asked Moody.

"With certain extra ingredients and spells, it gives the victim what looks to be a completely natural heart attack and brain aneurism within three minutes of ingesting the potion. It is completely fatal."

Moody chose not to question Harry on this. "Alright. No homework for Gryffindor tonight. Now, does anyone know what Veritaserum is?"

The rest of the lesson flew by, although Harry stayed alert. He wished he could zone out, but during the war there had been no such opportunities, and he would not be like the rest of the wizarding world and let down his guard.

After that, they had transfiguration. Harry resolved not to do anything until Ron got it, and planned to do all sorts of random things to whatever he was assigned to transfigure. They also had Herbology, where once again they did Mandrakes.

That night, he had his first training session. It had been decided that Sirius, Remus, Mad-Eye Moody, Albus Dumbledore, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione would be under his tutelage. Harry told them all to meet him on the seventh floor at seven. He now walked nervously up the staircase at about quarter till. Albus Dumbledore was waiting there for him, the other hadn't arrived yet.

"Hello Harry. I must say, in all my years of teaching, I have never actually taken a class under a student. Highly irregular, but then again, so is your situation."

"Does it upset you, Professor?"

At this, Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "No Harry, we were all young once. And so we must all be reminded of our youth and ignorance."

Harry smiled a bit. "I think we will demonstrate at first, and then Remus can teach my younger friends."

"Very well Harry, very well."

The others arrived at about five of seven, Hermione rushing the children and Remus hurrying the adults. "And now, we are all present and accounted for. Harry?"

Harry walked along the wall three times, and opened the Room of Requirement. "Wow…" said Ron. They entered a huge room, with three large dueling arenas, several practice areas, a track, and a good deal of books. "Hey Harry!" called Sirius, "Here is your stuff." When Harry came over to collect it, Sirius whispered "You can all come over to my place anytime. I live in a flat in London, however." Harry nodded, and then walked to the front of the room.

"Dumbledore and I will duel first, and show you some of what we know. Then we will split off into groups. Remus, over the next few months, I need you to teach my friends magic up through at least fifth year. They need to learn the Patronus, and work on strengthening their magic. As well, Stunning, Disarming, and Petrifying are all things they need to know."

"The Patronus? That is way beyond fifth year."

"I know. Albus, if you would."

The Headmaster and Harry stepped into the arena. No magic would get beyond the dome of the arena, but people could see in. Harry and Dumbledore bowed. "Start!" yelled Sirius, who had unofficially appointed himself the judge.

Harry lashed out with Legilimency, while Dumbledore shot a powerful stunner. Harry pointed his wand at the jet of light. _stupefactus occurro. _Dumbledore had fought off his mental assault, and now they dueled in earnest. "**_Expelliarmus_" shouted Dumbledore. Harry saw his wand motions didn't match the spell he had shouted. Not knowing the spell, he Slid out of the way. When he reappeared, he saw Dumbledore had Slid to the edge of the arena, so Harry couldn't go behind him.**

**Dumbledore conjured a huge globe of light, and it began to shoot stunners at him. Harry conjured a dragon to attack Dumbledore, and they both banished the other's creation. However, upon banishment, Dumbledore's globe exploded in light. Both were blinded, as Dumbledore had been busy with the dragon. Harry cast a charm on himself to allow him to see again, while Dumbledore conjured a griffin, and dispelled the light from his eyes. The griffin had already begun attacking Harry, who Slid across the room, and attempted to disarm Dumbledore. Dumbledore blocked the charm, and Harry charmed the griffin to attack Dumbledore.**

**Dumbledore banished the griffin, and the battle continued. After about five minutes, Dumbledore managed to surprise Harry with a powerful disarming charm. Harry banished his wand just in time, and when the curse hit him, he flew backwards, but rolled and summoned his wand.**

**The duel lasted fifteen minutes, until Sirius broke in. "Stop!" he shouted. "Cease! Desist! You're done!" Harry and Dumbledore stopped fighting. "As you can see," said Harry, breathing heavily "One of the most effective ways of avoiding a spell is simply getting out of the way."**

**"Now then, we will split up into two groups. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, you will be going with Remus. Sirius, Albus, and Alastor, you will be working with me."**

**The two groups split, and Harry tested all of his 'students' for magical potential. Albus Dumbledore placed highest, followed by Alastor and Sirius, who were only a few points off from each other. **

**"All of you are very powerful wizards. I am sure Albus knows this, but not every spell needs an incantation. Just like accidental magic, with enough force of will, you can funnel your magic to do something. However, this takes more power to do than with a proper incantation."**

**Harry had them work on doing small things that they would not know a spell for, and then worked on Occulmency and Legilimency. He showed them several knew spells, and taught them the stunner Albus was so fond of. He asked them if they wanted to learn the Killing Curse, but they all declined. Harry told them that they would have to permanently incapacitate a Death Eater if they fought one, stunning them to let them fight again was not enough. He told them they could use Diffindo, Reducto, or Sectumsempra, but Avada Kedavra was the cleanest.**

**Dumbledore told Harry that he would make a more secure prison, but that he would not kill. Alastor and Sirius seemed unsure. Deciding not to press the argument, Harry had them fire one hundred of the more powerful stunners at moving targets, and then Professor Dumbledore walked the students back to their dorm.**

The rest of the year sped by, and Harry used his foreknowledge to skip things such as the Deathday Party, and he avoided Moaning Myrtle. All four of them had gotten detention cleaning all the trophies, as Ron had hexed Malfoy during Quidditch Practice successfully, and a minor magical war had broken out between the two Quidditch teams. Harry had avoided using any really powerful magic, but he had participated.

Harry had been tempted to blast Tom Riddle's trophy out of existence, but he knew it would not turn out well, due to the wards on the trophy. Harry had cleaned a good deal of trophies, but he could not clean Riddles. He had Ron do it instead.

Finally, the day came that Lockhart started his dueling club. Just days before, Harry had been attacked by Dobby's maniac bludger. Unfortunately for the mad little house elf, Harry had changed the target of the magic to Malfoy. Not only did Harry catch the snitch, but he put Malfoy in the hospital as well. With what Malfoy had done in his past life, Harry didn't feel the least bit sorry. Malfoy was recovered though, and now he was in for a little hexing at the dueling club.

Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron were all at the Dueling Club and when Lockhart came out in his resplendent purple robes, Hermione sighed. She had realized what an idiot he was, but she still fancied him a bit. Ginny, on the other hand, wanted to kill him for fooling her and her mother so badly.

This time, Alastor Moody blasted Lockhart across the room, and Malfoy was paired with Harry. "One---Two---Three---Go!" On two, Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry. As soon as Lockhart yelled Go, Malfoy began shooting off spells. Harry blocked them, and began spraying him in the face with jets of Pumpkin Juice from his wand. "Stop! Stop all of you!" yelled Alastor. Hermione, Ginny and Ron had won quickly disarmed their opponents, but Neville still had managed to botch things up.

"Let's have a demonstration, shall we Gilderoy?" said Alastor, dragging Harry and Malfoy out on to the stage. Harry had told him all about last time, and he wanted a semi-repeat… If a little bit different. A sopping wet Draco and a grinning Harry walked onto the stage. Again, Malfoy began shooting spells at him, while Harry dodged or blocked. This time, however, Harry waited only a little bit before packing a good deal of power into a disarming charm. Draco summoned a shield, and the hex blasted right through it.

"Good, Good!" said Lockhart. He walked over to Harry. "A bit showy for my taste and your age, but good nonetheless. However, did you forget about that photo shoot again? I've mentioned this one at least three times in class. My dear boy, you can't possibly expect to go anywhere without a sponsor such as myself!"

Harry shrugged him off, and motioned to his friends. The reason he had come was to humiliate Malfoy, as he figured he knew more than Lockhart anyway. With his mission accomplished, he left the room, Lockhart's protests falling on deaf ears. However, as they neared the Gryffindor common room, Lockhart cornered them.

"Look Harry." Lockhart said, wand in hand. "I need you to help me with sales. My books haven't been nearly as successful lately, almost everyone has a copy. But with the Boy-Who-Lived… it would be wonderful. So I give you a choice: Help me willingly, or help me unwillingly."

Harry was taken aback. He had no idea Lockhart had it in him. "Profes—" "No trickery. It's a yes or no question." said Lockhart. Harry sighed. **_Expelliarmus _he thought, directing his focus at Lockhart. He caught the stunned man's wand, and pointed it at his attacker. "_Imperio" _he said. "Harry!" yelped Hermione. Harry jumped. _Uh-Oh. _He thought. He knew Hermione would not be happy with him controlling people's minds. "Fine." he said. "_Obliviate". _Harry wiped Lockhart's memory of the past hour, and then implanted one to make him decide to resign. After that, he made Lockhart take his wand, and go to his room. Once Harry sense Lockhart was there, he lifted the Imperius.**

**"Harry, I cannot believe you used that curse! You know full well about what those mean! Honestly! And to think--"**

"Tommorrow, we are going over Unforgivables then." said Harry somberly.

The next night, Harry waited outside the Room of Requirement. He always came up alone, while his friends were preparing. At 6:50, an obviously distraught Sirius Black. Sirius raced up in front of Harry and stumbled to a stop. Gasping, he said "Harry… Wormtail… Wormtail escaped." Harry's mind raced. They should have had another year.

A grave looking Albus Dumbledore swept up behind Sirius. "It appears that this news, while frightening, has more meaning to you than it does to us?"

"Yeah," Harry said distractedly. "Wormtail's escape heralds Voldemort's return. We were supposed to have till at least my third year until Wormatil escaped. However, Voldemort won't return until at least next year. Did you tell the ministry he needed a special cell?"

"Why would he?" asked Dumbledore, confused.

"Dementors won't detect an animagus nearly as well while in animagus form. He probably got on the boat as a rat. Our training needs to be stepped up."

Soon after, Remus arrived, looking for Sirius. It was a little bit after seven when Harry's friends showed up, and Hermione was dragging Ron by his ear. "Look Harry, I know this is important and all, but can I skip this one to finish that homework we have for Transfiguration." Hermione started up. "Ron, you have had at least six weeks to—" "Enough!" Harry bellowed. Both of them looked at him in shock. "Tonight, the man we captured at your house freed himself from Azkaban. This means our training needs to be accelerated, possibly to every day each week. But I see I have not impressed the seriousness of this upon you. I wanted to keep you all safe, but you must know how to fight. If you insist, I can show you how you DIED, in a pensive, alrighty?"

Ron looked on the verge of yelling back or breaking in to tears. Harry felt sorry, he had just been really agitated by the acceleration of the time line by a year. "Look, come on in, I'm sure Dumbledore can excuse you from a homework assignment if you promise not to take advantage of it."

Harry led them all into the Room of Requirement, and Remus began to break the children off from the group. "Not tonight Remus, this is something everyone needs to know."

"Does everyone know what the Unforgivable Curses are?"

Ginny and Ron shook their head, but everyone else nodded.

"The Unforgivable curses are: The Cruciatus, which causes unbearable pain, the Imperius, which can control a persons mind, and finally the Killing Curse."

"I have never used the Cruciatus, and never planned too, I can use Legilimency and Veritaserum. However, I do know the other two, and have used them when it suits me. I would like for you all to master The Imperius and the Killing Curse, regardless of whether or not you use them. Many people have moral issues about killing. It needs to be done to win this war. In the past time line, any Death Eater not killed had a nasty way of coming back and killing someone. For instance, we captured Lucius Malfoy in my fifth year. He killed Arthur Weasley just before my seventh."

He knew saying this in front of Ginny and Ron would have quite an effect, and he was right. However, he had not expected the effect it had on Hermione. Last time, she had not spent the summer with the Weasleys, and it appeared to have had quite the effect on her, at the mention of Mr. Weasley's death, she turned stark white, and looked like she might faint.

"Avade Kedavra is the most efficient, and cleanest way of killing. It simply removes the soul from the body. For groups, mass amounts of fire, or a chain spell is very effective. For example…"

Harry stepped into the dueling arena, and summoned several dragons. They roared and him, and for effect, he roared back "_Avada Kedavra multiplico!" _As he did this, he spun his wand in a blur. Three arcs around the hand, pull around the head, take aim at the target, stab, and twist. The jet of light struck one dragon in the chest, but then shot out the back. It twirled around the dragon, and struck the others in succession. Next, he conjured several dummies, and with the same wand motions yelled "_Avada Kedavra pro plures!" _This time, four jets of light shot out of his wand, and one struck each target.

After that, he walked out of the dueling arena. "As you can see, I can cast the Killing Curse, in addition to being able to chain and multishot. Chaining is less efficient timewise, but takes only twice the energy of the normal spell, and is easy to aim. Multishot takes the entire energy of the original curse multiplied by the number of targets, as well as being very hard to aim."

"Regardless, the curse we are to discuss today, and to learn, is the Imperius." Albus spoke up "Harry, are you suggesting that we teach second years illegal curses?" Harry nodded. "Albus, we need to be ready. And compassion killed you last time. This time, I want all of us to live."

**A/N: My 'homepage' is now a forums for discussing my stories (or story, as it is now).**

**As well, I reformatted the story for less chapters. Any critique is welcome.**

**Some Review replies: **

**PSTurner: I do not think Dumbledore will ever kill anyone. I do think Harry will be able to convince him to let him have a semi-free reign with what he teaches. Yeah, Harry is driven to do everything better this time. But what needs to be understood, is he is not some sort of Dark Harry or anything like that. He is nice to his friends, has fun with them etc. But he gets really serious sometimes, and will do anything it takes to keep them all alive. The next chapter, which I planning on being Christmas Break in Sirius's flat, should illustrate he can be nice and have fun. **

**David305: Excellent! I made all the corrections, and thank you for pointing out the one compartment thing. I am actually hoping to acquire a beta. However, I do not have any friends who are both interested in Harry Potter, fan fiction _and _have good spelling and grammar.**

**If anyone would like to beta for me, LMK, but I have been a bit hesitant about having somebody I do not know beta, so we will see.**


	5. Christmas Break, End of Year

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter V

Through the next three sessions, they practiced throwing off the Imperius. Occulmency appeared to give all of them an advantage, and soon Harry was hard pressed to make anyone do anything. Albus had been immune to Harry's strongest Imperius curses from the start, but now even Ginny, just in her first year was throwing them off. All thoughts of Wormtail were thrown from Harry's mind. Despite Ron's complaints, all of them were near the top of their classes, and Christmas break was just around the corner. Peter Pettigrew was being searched for, but most efforts were trying to find out how he escaped.

Albus refused to use the Imperius curse, and also detested Avada Kedavra. However, Harry had convinced him to let them teach the others the curse, so long as they consented. Ron, Hermione and Ginny followed Harry fairly loyally, although they did not have enough power to do a strong Imperius or any form of Avada Kedavra. Moody decided he would learn them, but probably not use them, while Remus and Sirius both agreed to learn them and kill if they had to. Sirius knew first hand of the corruption of the prison system, and Remus had some experience with it.

Remus had built up the magical stores of the children immensely, but Harry had found, in his research, a way to make a young witch or wizard come into their full power. Unfortunately, while his friends were more mature then they had been at this time last timeline, he decided they weren't ready just yet.

"Harry! Harry, wake up!" Harry snapped awake. He hadn't gone to bed until about four in the morning the night before, training and researching in the Room of Requirement. During the war in his last timeline, there had been very little time for sleep, and Harry had only gotten about 4 hours per day. However, his new body couldn't handle it the same way as his old one, which resulted in him sleeping a lot more. Harry decided that last night was to be a one time occurrence. "Come on Harry, the train will be leaving soon."

_That's right! The train! _Harry thought. For the first time ever, Harry was not going to spend Christmas at Hogwarts. After having them all for the summer, Mrs. Weasley had agreed to allow her children to go to the Sirius's place. Unfortunately, Hermione had to go to her house, as her parents had expected to have her the whole summer, and Hermione wanted to see them as well.

Harry rolled over, and got up. He quickly showered, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. Then he grabbed his trunk, and he and Ron went down the stairs to meet Ginny and Hermione. Hermione was waiting there, reading a book. "Hey." said Ron and Harry. "Oh hi," she said, "Ginny will be down shortly, she is finishing getting ready." Ron murmured something that sounded a lot like _'girls'_. Ginny waltzed down the stairs and hit him in the back of the head. "I heard that ickle Ronnikins" she commented.

The four of them walked down the staircases to the front of Hogwarts, and waited for the carriages. As they were waiting, Malfoy chose the opportunity to come by once again. Harry was getting really tired of him, but there wasn't much he could do. Harry knew about the vanishing cabinets this time around, and he could also dispel the instant darkness powder, so Malfoy wouldn't be assisting in the murder of Dumbledore this time around. As well, there was hope for the boy yet, so long as Harry didn't kill him before their sixth year.

"So, two Weasels and a Mudblood are going with their Famous Hero, to the house of a convicted murderer?" asked Malfoy. "Bugger off Malfoy!" said Ron. Malfoy opened his mouth to say more, but the rest of the students began filing out, and McGonagall was in the crowd, along with many other staff. He cast them a glare, but then disappeared into the crowd.

The thestral drawn carriages soon arrived, and the four got in. The train ride home was relatively peaceful, as Harry had locked the compartment door, opening it only to get sweets. Soon enough, the four found themselves splitting up for the first time since Harry had come back in time. "See you all later." said Hermione, looking a bit grim at the prospect. "Don't worry Hermione, we'll see you soon!" said Harry. "Yeah." said Ron. Ginny waved, and Hermione ran off to her parents. They left through the barrier, and the remaining three were all sad to see Hermione go.

Soon after, Sirius showed up, strolling through the barriers like the king of the world. He was dressed in an expensive black muggle suit. He was smiling at Harry, and his smile dimmed just a little bit as people recoiled from the man they had thought to be a mass murderer. However, his smile widened again when Harry ran across platform 93/4, friends in tow, to give his godfather a hug. Sirius hugged him back, and then beckoned them through the barrier. Sirius led them to a very nice black car, and they put their trunks in the magically enlarged back. Then the three piled into the backseat, and they drove away.

What they pulled up to however, was not exactly a flat. It was more of a mansion, and Harry voiced this. "Oh, yeah," Sirius grinned, "I forgot to tell you. In the time you have been at school, my affairs have all been settled. I got compensated about 600,000 galleons, and with the inheritance I've gotten, I could afford about four houses like this for several years."

Ron and Ginny were a bit taken aback. They had always lived in the Burrow, a small house maintained mainly by magic. This house was nothing like that at all. What was more is that every room was probably magically expanded. The huge archway looked intimidating. Harry spoke up "Race you to the house!"

All of them took off in a sprint. Harry had forgotten what a kid Sirius really was. Ginny and Sirius broke out ahead, while Harry and Ron were hot on their heels. Sirius won the race, Ginny coming in second, with Harry in third and Ron in last. After that, they romped around the house. Sirius delighted Ginny by turning into his dog form and roaming as a canine, and Ron made him agree to teach them all. Becoming an animagus was something Harry wanted to do, as he had never had the time in the last time line. If they were lucky, they might be able to master it by their fourth or fifth year.

All of them ate an excellent dinner of roast beef, and then they played some Quidditch. Sirius had built a Quidditch pitch in the back, and bought ten Nimbus 2000s for guests to use. As well, he had two sets of brand new Quidditch balls. They played the wizarding sport until it got dark, and then Ron asked who was up for some wizarding chess. Sirius foolishly agreed, and he and Ron went into the living room where the chess board was located. Ginny and Harry went to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, and they held a fairly long conversation about charms, which was Ginny's favorite subject. Harry didn't know too many charms, as they weren't very good for combat. He did know a lot of healing, and some other useful stuff, but Ginny was interested in theory.

Harry promised to get some books for her on the theories of magic, and then taught her several healing spells. She mastered some of the more simple ones, and Harry promised to work on the harder ones with her later. Sirius mock groans of pain and agony stopped, and Harry heard footsteps on the stairs. Sure enough, a grinning Ron walked up with a slightly glum Sirius. Harry and Ginny hadn't done all that much eating, so Sirius made some dinner while Ron told them all about the three games of chess he had won.

After dinner, the three kids told Sirius stories of the year they had been having so far, and Sirius heaped tale after tale of the Marauder days upon them. Harry was quite happy to hear these, as they were all just as new to him as they were to Ron and Ginny. However, when Sirius brought up Snape, Harry sobered up a bit. The Marauders had made Snape into the person he was now. It was partially their fault that Dumbledore had failed to save him after trying so hard. Sirius moved on to how Harry's parents got together, and Harry perked up again.

Quite late that night, the children turned in, and Sirius went to his room. Each Harry, Ron and Ginny had their own room, which was a change from school, but Harry had no trouble falling asleep. His body was wiped.

The next day, Harry woke up to the sun shining strongly through the window. He covered his head with his pillow, and attempted to find some more sleep. However, with in ten minutes, Ginny ran past his door yelling. "Ron! Harry! Shopping! We get to go shopping!" After running into her brother's room and apparently dumping a bucket of water on him, based of his yelps, she showed up in Harry's room, sporting not a bucket, but a wand. "_Agu—" _Harry leapt out of bed, and tackled her to the ground. "Ha!" he said. She spun and tried to wrestle him off. She was surprisingly strong for her size, and Harry had to start wrestling in earnest as well.

After a few minutes, Harry managed to pin Ginny with her arms above her head. He sat on her, grinning, until a dripping Ron walked in, wand out, hunting for Ginny. "Oi! That's my sister!" "Relax Ron, I just nabbed her before she could spray me!" said Harry. With a wave of his hand, Ron was dry, and Ron accepted Harry's explanation.

Sirius poked his head into the room. "Hey, kiddos, lets get a move on, k?" A slightly embarrassed Harry and Ginny followed Sirius, with a confused Ron trailing behind. Sirius led them to the fireplace, and pulled a bag of floo powder from the mantle. "Harry, you first. Leaky Cauldron." Harry went through the floo to the Leaky Cauldron, and waited. Ron, then Ginny, then Sirius came through the floo.

"Alright. Gringotts first. Each of you get 200 galleons as a Christmas present from me!" said Sirius.

"What!?" said Ginny

"We can't take that much!" said Ron

"Nonsense. But of course you will damage my pride for yours. How would you feel if I made Harry refuse all of your Christmas Presents? Please don't refuse mine." said Sirius. He led Ron and Ginny over to a corner, and had a talk with them. When they came back, Ron and Ginny seemed slightly unhappy, but Sirius led them to Gringotts.

While Sirius went down to his vault, the three kids went down to Harry's vault. Harry filled several bags heaping full of gold, and banished about four to the place he kept his wand. "Where do those go Harry?" asked Ginny. "Dunno. No one but me can access them though. I've got my invisibility cloak, gold, and my wand in there."

"Come on." said Ron, as he turned to leave. Harry hefted a huge bag of gold, and gave another to Ginny. They went back up to the main level of the banks, and found Sirius waiting for them. Harry transferred the extra bags of gold into Muggle money, and

Sirius handed them each a weightless bag, filled with 200 galleons. "Meet back here by 3:00. It is about 11:00 now, so that leaves more then enough time." Sirius said.

"Ron, Ginny, lets go." Harry began walking, and he led his friends to Ollivander's wands. The others followed him, and he spoke softly. "In order to be effective, in battle and in class, you need a wand suited to you. Take it as one of my Christmas presents to you."

He opened the door to the shop, and the others walked in. He shut the door behind them. The shop was empty, and he rang the bell. Ollivander moved to the front of the shop, and began to speak. "Ah, so rare to see young souls at this time of year. Two Weasleys, and young Mister Potter. Eleven inches and Holly, Phoenix feather of course. Never seen you two before however. Ah, though it seems only yesterday that a young Molly Prewitt walked in here…"

Ollivander continued on for a bit, and then abruptly stopped and grabbed a box from the shelves. "Your name my boy?" he asked Ron. "Um.. Ron." said Ron. "Try this, Nine inches, Oak and Dragon heartstring…"

Ollivander tried several wands for Ron, and finally he pulled the right one. "Yes, yes, Twelve and a half inches, ash, and with Unicorn hair. Now you, my dear. Your name?"

"Ginny."

"Ahh. Try this one…"

Ginny took a good deal longer than Ron. Finally, Ollivander sighed. "I thought it might be. Willow, 10 and ¼ inches… and phoenix feather." he said, whispering the last words. Harry's eyebrows rose. "Sir?" "Yes, yes, a phoenix came here not two weeks ago, and left a feather on my desk. Most peculiar indeed." "Fawkes?" asked Harry. "No… Fawkes' mate."

Ginny hesitantly picked up the wand. Sparks shot out of the end. "Ah, it is your wand. It will be twenty five galleons for both, thank you." Ollivander said. Harry handed him the money. "What's the big deal?" asked Ginny. "It is basically my mom's wand, and our cores are mates." Harry said. "Oh." "Dunno what it means though." said Harry "Lets go shopping, shall we?" The three left the store, and spent the rest of the day going from store to store, buying Christmas presents for their friends.

On Christmas Eve, they went over to the Weasleys' house, and received a pleasant surprise in the form of Hermione waiting for them. They set their presents under the tree, and played outside for a bit. Soon, they were called inside to wash up, and then they all sat down to Christmas dinner.

Christmas dinner was quite enjoyable, and after dinner they sat up talking for quite some time. At around eleven, the children were sent to bed. Fred and George attempted to stay up, but Mrs. Weasley terrified them into sleep.

The next morning, Ron was the first to wake up. Stifling his instinct to yell 'Presents' at the top of his lungs, he snuck down to Ginny's room, intent to pay her back. And indeed he did, using his brand new wand to soak her with freezing cold water. Harry woke to the sound of Ginny screaming. His brain raced, and he Slid into the girls' room.

Upon finding everything alright, he banished his wand, and dried off Ginny. "Alright." he said. "PRESENTS!!!" yelled Ron, bolting from the room. "Shall we?" asked Harry. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny walked down the stairs to the living room.

Ron's yell woke the rest of the family, and Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron were waiting only a few minutes until the rest of the Weasleys walked in, Fred and George dragging Sirius along. Arthur stood up, and gave a speech about the meaning of friends and family. After that, all of the Weasley children shot forward like bullets from a gun, grabbing presents and making piles with them.

Harry and Hermione, unsure of the Weasley traditions, waited as the presents were separated into piles. After just about five minutes, all of the presents were sorted into piles. Mrs. Weasley waved her wand, and a name above each of the piles. Harry walked over to the pile with his name above it. None of the other Weasley's had opened theirs yet, so he refrained from opening his until Mr. Weasley chose a present from his pile, and opened it. It was from Harry, and Mr. Weasley gleefully thanked him for the toaster.

Harry opened his presents. A large tin of treacle fudge from Hagrid, and a luxury eagle feather quill from Hermione, just as before. However, the next present caused his eyes to widen. _The spells of Albus Dumbledore _rested upon two other books. _Magik of Yesteryears _and _The Arte Of Ancient Magic _lay with them. Harry read the note that went with them. _These books may only be read by you and I. I have added you to the charm recently. Hopefully there are things for even you to learn. _Harry had never read these books, and was fairly sure the first one had not existed in his last timeline. Mrs. Weasley gave him a sweater, and a book on household spells.

Ron had gotten Harry a nice set of robes, and Ginny had gotten him a brand new watch, that looked quite expensive. Mr. Weasley had given him a book on obscure wizarding laws, directly from the Ministry, and Fred and George had given him a small box of Zonko's products. Finally, Sirius had given him the knife that would open any lock. After opening presents, thank yous went all around, and then the entire group went in the kitchen for a home cooked Christmas dinner.

The kids stayed up late that night, going to bed about two in the morning. The next day, Hermione had to go home, but promised to come back for New Years. Ron, Ginny and Harry went to Sirius's house that day as well, and would be returning to the Burrow for New Years also. Upon arriving back at Sirius's house, all three kids and Sirius went to bed. The few days they had at Sirius's house were a blur of fun. New Years was a lot like Christmas, and fairly soon Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron were getting on the train back to Hogwarts.

Half way back to Hogwarts the train rattled to a halt. "Hmm?" yawned Ron, stretching. Harry felt as though something cold was sliding down his back. "Bugger." he said. "What?" asked Ginny. Harry summoned his wand. Holding it to his forehead, he said "**_contego animus_". A silvery shield began to swirl around him. "What is that?" asked Hermione, wide eyed. "That spell shields against dementors. It is a lot like the patronus charm in casting, and requires power to sustain. Since you can cast the patronus, all you need is the power. I do not know if you have that." Hermione's face paled. "No..n-no!" she began to gasp. "Quickly, try it. I cannot cast it upon you, it must be cast upon oneself." Ginny looked ready to throw up, and Ron seemed paralyzed with fear, but both pulled out their wands and muttered the spell. Faint shields wrapped around them, but then they disappeared, and both gave into fear. Harry cursed. They would need to perform the Coming to Power spell as soon as they got back to school.**

**A dementor slid open the compartment door. It turned to the three on the floor, and then stared at Harry. It approached him slowly, not understanding why it could sense no emotions. Harry thought of the day Ginny had smiled at him, and thought about how he had regained all he had lost. _Expecto Patronum. _He thought, pointing his wand at the dementor. A silver stag shot from the end of his wand. As the dementor fled, he debated destroying it, but decided he would wait until they returned to Voldemort. It would do no good for a student to be using spells no one had used for years, and the last time it had been done was by Albus Dumbledore.**

**The other three got up, and Ron and Ginny grabbed their wands. "I'm sorry." muttered Hermione. "Don't be." said Harry "However, this means we are farther along than I thought. I know a spell that will make your magical stores increase to the amount you would normally have when you turn seventeen. You will have the power of a strong adult wizard, and in terms of brute force, could probably beat McGonagall in a duel, hands down. With that however, comes responsibility. You will need to learn to control your power, and you _must not _fight with spells during school, unless in defense against spells. Okay?"**

**All of them nodded, and Hermione asked why he hadn't done this before. "We needed _some _childhood." he said. They lapsed into silence, pondering the gravity of the situation.**

**Immediately after arriving back at school, Harry led the others to Dumbledore's office. "Hold on to me." he said. When they did, he Slid onto the staircase. "Whoa, that was weird." said Ron. "Yeah." said Harry. They walked up the stairs. Dumbledore was reading a book behind his desk. "Hello. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked.**

**"Dementors. Have you ever heard of the Coming to Power ritual?" Albus looked up. "Why, yes, I do happen to know it. Do you plan on using it anytime soon?" Harry nodded. "Very well. It must be tonight. Do you have the potions?" Harry shook his head. "No, but with power sources as strong as you and I, we can bypass that part." Harry said.**

**Within about ten minutes, Harry, Dumbledore, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were in the Room of Requirement. **Harry conferred briefly with Dumbledore, and than Ginny, Ron and Hermione were asked to stand in a triangle. Harry stood in the center of the triangle, and began to chant a spell. Dumbledore stood behind Ginny, who was at the top of the triangle, and began to chant as well. The spell took about two minutes, and then Harry and Dumbledore both collapsed. Ginny, Hermione and Ron felt a rush of magic enter them, and they could sense their newfound strength.

Hermione and Ron helped up Dumbledore, and Ginny went to help Harry. However, Harry stood up of his own accord, and Dumbledore graciously brushed Ron and Hermione off after he was standing. "MPT?" asked Harry "Certainly." replied Dumbledore. He turned to Ginny, Ron and Hermione "The Magical Power test is on a scale of 1 to 100. Harry, Voldemort and I are all in the 70s, while most wizards are in the 20s to 30s." Harry and Dumbledore performed the charm on themselves. Harry scored 73, while Dumbledore took a 77. Then, Harry performed it on Ron, and Dumbledore performed it on Hermione. Hermione scored a 56, while Ron broke a 61. Harry moved to Ginny, and gasped as the number rose above her head. "What?" she asked, looking upward. "Seventy-One." choked out Ron. The others seemed speechless, and Dumbledore broke the silence. "Well, Mrs. Weasley, it appears you are now officially the most powerful witch in existence."

"Voldemort has a 74." said Harry "Regardless, now all of you can learn the more advanced spells we have wanted to teach you."

The next few months were a blur of training, studying and fun. Harry and his friends had a few run ins with Malfoy, but nothing got out of hand. All of his friends seemed a lot more mature than ever before, and Harry wondered if the Coming to Power ritual had anything to do with it. In one year, his friends had grown up, magically and mentally. After one particularly tiring training session, he had told Ron "Look at it this way. After this year, you won't need to study for the rest of your life."

At this point in time, training sessions were non-lethal duels, with Harry verse Dumbledore, Ginny verse Sirius, Ron verse Moody, and Hermione verse Tonks, for most of the time. Occasionally, they switched off partners, but only Ginny could match Harry and Dumbledore for power, and she did not have their knowledge base yet. However, she could duel with them for extended periods of time, and the others were all pretty well matched.

Sirius's ego had taken quite a beating from getting continuously beat by an eleven year old girl, until they had a round robin tournament. After seeing her beat Moody, Ron, Hermione, and Tonks, he felt a bit relieved.

Finally, it was the final day of Harry's second year at Hogwarts, and he wished it would never end. He knew that next year would not be nearly as good as this one. He had passed all his exams perfectly, as had his friends. Gryffindor had won the House and the Quidditch cup, and no major problems had reared up. Now, Harry looked out his window and could only see all of their innocence preparing to flee.

**A/N: Well, I hope you like it. I wasn't sure if I wanted to end Harry's second year so soon, but I'm not into copious amounts of fluff, and I think I got the important stuff.**

**Anyway, I still have no beta, so if anyone wants to, let me know.**

**Any other Questions or Comments will be answered accordingly.**

**Knighted Lioness: Part of the reason Harry was not 'the top' is two reasons: First, I wanted to show that he couldn't waltz in and blow Voldemort up with no problems. The hardest part of the time travel idea is that everything could be really easy to 'do over' and I don't want it to be like that.**

**Secondly, I wanted to show that minor differences don't matter that much, and with hard work even major one can even be compensated for. For instance, Hermione has a 56, and Ron has 61. Does this mean that Ron will win every time, because of a five point difference? No. Think of it a bit like an IQ test. If someone scores a 120, and someone else scores a 125, the person with the 120 is not necessarily going to score lower on everything.**

**Therefore, with a 73, Harry can beat Voldemort or Dumbledore, but not with total ease. However, if he was to face a wizard far more experienced in the 40s, then he could break all of their shields without trying too hard.**


End file.
